


Day Off

by WintersCaptain



Series: A Joyful Future [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Day At The Beach, F/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WintersCaptain/pseuds/WintersCaptain
Summary: Hotch gets two days off, and you insist on spending one of them at the beach. Antics ensue.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Reader
Series: A Joyful Future [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836898
Comments: 4
Kudos: 126





	Day Off

You stand at the bottom of the stairs, hands on your hips, squinting. Getting out the door on a school day was tough, but getting six Hotchners into a car bound for the beach was a fate worse than death.

“Jack, do you have the towels?” Aaron barrels out of the master bedroom with a tote bag full of snacks, sunscreen, and assorted beach toys. He’d already packed two just like it. 

“Yeah,” comes the reply from upstairs. “but Isaac can’t find his shoes.”

Just then, another wail. “Mom!” 

You sigh, looking at Aaron. 

“They called you, not me,” he says with an almost-smile and a shrug. 

You swat at him. “Prick.” 

His laughter is the underscore as you jog up the stairs, finding Isaac’s shoes right away and tossing them toward his bedroom door. Isolating the shout, you get to the girls’ room. Sophia is tangled in her bathing suit with Caroline fruitlessly tugging on straps here and there. 

“Caroline, can you go help your father pack the car? Do you have your shoes?” You snag a couple of necessary items off the floor – a pair of flip-flops and tiny pink sunglasses. 

Caroline snatches all the items out of your hands and runs down the stairs. 

“Okay baby girl.” You kneel next to Sophia and help her fix her suit. You smoosh a floppy hat and a kiss on her head and send her down the stairs.  
Two down, two to go. 

You walk back out into the wide hallway, finding your son struggling with his strappy sandals. 

“Do you want some help with those, bud?”

“I got him, mom.” Jack pops out of his room and kneels by his brother, correcting the mismatched straps. 

You lean over to kiss Jack on the head. “Can you make sure he gets to the car okay? I’m gonna check on your dad.” 

Jack huffs a laugh, and it sounds eerily like Aaron’s. “I got this one. Dad could probably use the help.” 

Jack is usually right, and this time is no exception. Aaron leans into the car, one knee on the backseat while he struggles to strap Sophia into her car seat. He’s got a backpack slung over one shoulder and a tote on the other. His sunglasses have long fallen off his head and onto the lawn, along with his flip flops abandoned on the driveway. 

Caroline has planted herself in the small colony of bags near the rear bumper, playing with her sandals.

You approach him, placing gentle hands on his waist. “I got this, love.”

He startles, smacking his head on the doorframe. He curses loudly, and you step back as he rises, a hand on his head. 

He turns to you with a defeated sigh and you hide a smile. “Why did we do this again?”

You smile, grabbing his face and bringing his head down to your level, kissing the sore spot. “It’s your weekend off. You’re supposed to have _fun_.”

He shakes you off and shoves the hair off his forehead with a dry, “Ah. Yes of course. My day off and my wife decides she wants to go to the beach with our _four children_.” He undercuts his snark with a kiss almost inappropriate for mixed company.

“Ew!” Sophia shouts from inside the car. 

He pulls away from you with a little smile and caresses your cheek, leaving you to the crucible of the car seat. 

You take his place leaning into the car, tucking Sophia’s arms into the straps. She’s looking at you with her father’s eyes. You take a moment to kiss her little hands and poke at her ribs until she’s laughing.

Another pair of little hands grab on to your bare thigh, and you reach blindly for Caroline. You haul her into your arms and plop her into her car seat. “Hey, little bug.” 

She smiles at you. “Hi, momma.” 

You drop your voice to a whisper. “How’s dad doing?”

Mulling over an answer, she answers just as quietly. “He’s sweaty and saying a lot of grown-up words.” 

Dropping a kiss to her forehead to hide your smile, you thank her for her intel and finish strapping her in.

+++

By the time you all make it to the water, everyone is a little sweaty and a little hungry. You tackle the tote bags, and umbrella, while Aaron takes the twins in his arms. You never get tired of watching Aaron juggle the girls, one on each hip, as they got older and bigger. 

Jack runs ahead, straight into the water, and the girls follow once Aaron lets them go. Jack is chronically helpful, keeping an eye on both girls, but especially Sophia Haley “Flight Risk” Hotchner. 

Aaron learned early in your marriage that setting up your beach chair was the first priority upon arrival. As soon as it’s set, you drop yourself into it and grab your book. Isaac takes up residence on the towel at your feet with his coloring book as Aaron continues to adjust, flutter, and assemble to his heart’s content. 

You and your family are blissfully unaware that Derek is currently kicking ass on the beach volleyball court not 100 yards away. Leaning back into the sand nearby, Penelope watches the game while Spencer plays a game of chess on his portable magnetic board. He _will_ beat Emily next time. 

“Spencer.” Penelope removes her sunglasses to get a better look at…is that? 

He doesn’t look up. 

“Spencer!” She smacks him with her glasses and he looks up with a start. 

Penelope gestures wordlessly to the new additions to the beach, and they both study the scene for a moment. 

“Is that?” Spencer asks. 

“I think so.” 

“Call Emily.” 

+++

You aren’t quite sure what makes you look up from your book. Isaac is still coloring at your feet, Aaron and the girls still down at the water, watching Jack shred on his new skimboard. You chuck to yourself and shake your head. The man will not remove his white crew-neck unless pressed, even at the beach.

Nevertheless, you look around out of habit, pushing your sunglasses onto your head, and spot a cluster of familiar faces by the beach volleyball court. 

“Hey Isaac, honey.” You ruffle your son's thick, dark hair to get his attention. 

He looks up at you with a set of familiar brown eyes. He’d been this focused since birth, coming into the world with an alert awareness. It only made sense to name him after Reid. “Yeah, mom?” 

He crawls into your lap, smelling of sunscreen and boy. 

“Look over there for a minute. Does that look like your Uncle Spencer?” 

He follows your gaze and nods, beginning to wiggle in excitement. Spencer’s head snaps up as Isaac’s eyes find him, as if he knew his namesake was looking for him. 

“Don’t you think those people with him look like Auntie JJ, Aunt Penelope, and Aunt Emily? And is that Uncle David?” 

Isaac looks up at you for permission, still squirming, and you help him out of your lap. 

“Go get ‘em, baby. Tell them to stay put until Daddy notices.” He squints at you, confused. “It’ll be funny,” you assure him. 

You watch Isaac sprint as fast as his legs will carry him until he’s all the way into Spencer’s arms. Returning to your book, you settle in for the show. 

Aaron and the girls get tired after a little while and return to the little hideout.  
You look up, and Aaron leans down to give you a salty kiss. 

“Having fun?”

He cracks open a bottle of water. “Surprisingly, yes.” 

Your smugness must show on your face because Aaron rolls his eyes and shifts his attention to your unruly children. You watch him take count, looking back down to your book to hide your smile. _1, 2, 3….1….2…_

“Where’s Isaac?”

“Oh he’s with Spencer,” you say, as if it’s obvious, pretending to read your book. 

Aaron squints exactly the same way Isaac did only minutes prior. “Reid?”

“Not just Spencer!” Emily says, running up and scooping Caroline into her arms. The little girl laughs and your heart swells. You couldn’t ask for a better family. 

Aaron looks straight up into the sky, completely and utterly defeated. You could swear you hear a “What did I do to deserve this,” followed by, “I get two days off. Two.”

“Your ankle strap is showing.” Derek, in mock panic, throws his button down over Aaron, who swats at it immediately with a curse. “There are women and children here, man.”

Finally free of the ridiculously-patterned button down, Aaron instinctively reaches for both his hip and his ankle before realizing he’s not armed. 

He looks at Derek with an _exhausted_ sigh, while Derek’s grin nearly eats up his whole face. 

“Lookin’ good, Pops,” says Rossi, coming up behind Hotch and clapping him hard on the shoulder. 

“You’d think,” Hotch says, raising his hands in defeat as you look on with a smile, “that you’d all be sick and tired of me after a decade and a half.” 

Emily barks a laugh. “Not a chance, stud.” 

Aaron rolls his eyes.

JJ plants herself at your side, enjoying the spectacle as much, if not more, than you. Sophia crawls into her lap, and JJ plants kisses all over her face, covered in sand. 

Jack calls from the water. “Uncle Derek! Skimboard!”

“Oh man, it’s on!” Derek calls back, already running toward Jack, who’s holding the skimboard aloft. Derek turns back, bouncing on his toes. “You game, Hotchner, or are you too old?”

Aaron, with another long-suffering sigh and a kiss to the top of your head, whips his shirt off and sprints past Derek into the water. You take more than a minute to admire his retreating form. _God bless America and God bless the FBI._

“Too old,” Rossi grumbles. “I’ll show them too old.” 

He rolls up his pant legs and sleeves and starts to walk leisurely down the beach. 

“What the hell are they doing?” Emily’s shadow interrupts your sunlight, and you push your sunglasses back to the top of your head. 

“Skimboarding, apparently,” JJ offers. Sophia giggles in her arms. 

You look over your shoulder to find Spencer and Isaac a way off, playing chess together. _He’s taken care of._

“Couldn’t they get…really hurt?” Penelope says, sitting in the sand beside JJ. 

“I guess,” you shrug. “It wouldn’t be our first visit to the emergency room.” 

Derek puts forth a good showing, going a fair few feet before landing straight on his ass. Aaron does poorly, as expected, but gets two good runs in before he hits the sand hard, his board shorts riding up as he slides across the sand. You’re not sure you’ve ever seen Jack laugh this hard. 

You shrink back as Aaron stands, revealing a wicked sand burn you can see from your chair. “Oof. That’ll bruise tomorrow.” 

Emily puts a hand on your shoulder as the boys attempt to discourage Rossi from engaging with the skimboard. “Oh my god.” 

You all watch, open-mouthed, as Rossi asserts command over the board, still wearing all of his rings, his pants, and his button-down. You’re not sure there’s a drop of water on him, when he finally kicks the board up, landing back on the sand with the board tucked neatly under his arm. 

Aaron’s hands are in his hair as he stands frozen in shock. Jack and Derek go absolutely feral, running up on Rossi and engaging in all manner of manly theatrics. 

Eventually, Aaron comes to his senses and jogs back to base, leaving Derek, Jack, and Dave to their now-heated skimboarding competition. 

“Feeling your age, Agent Hotchner?” Your good-natured ribbing draws a laugh from all the girls (even the little ones). 

“You,” he says, falling onto the towel at your feet, “are lucky I love you because you are _pushing it_ today.”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the anon who requested this on my [blog](laughingloki.co.vu). Let me know what you think, and if you liked it, please drop a kudos or a comment. 
> 
> xo,  
> Tali


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